The third day of the 11th Intermediate Provincial Chapter saw the capitulars gathered together in the morning to listen to Mr. Jon Neil Perfecio, Faculty of the Center for Religious Education of the University of San Jose-Recoletos, resource speaker for the reflections on “Dilexi Te” and Augustinian Challenges.

During the session, Mr. Perfecio posed a critical question: “Does our religious life make us more available to the poor, or does it protect us from their interruption?” He added that to walk with the poor is to lose control, surrender predictability, and allow ourselves to be transformed by those whose lives are most threatened.

He challenged the capitulars to move from merely listening to actively loving, calling them to live out the words of Pope Leo XIV in his first apostolic exhortation: “Christian love breaks down every barrier, brings close those who were distant, unites strangers, and reconciles enemies. It spans chasms that are humanly impossible to bridge, and it penetrates to the most hidden crevices of society. By its very nature, Christian love is prophetic: it works miracles and knows no limits. It makes what was apparently impossible happen. Love is above all a way of looking at life and a way of living it. A Church that sets no limits to love, that knows no enemies to fight but only men and women to love, is the Church that the world needs today. (§120)”

The session concluded with the awarding of certificate by Very Rev. Fr. Andrew P. Batayola, OSA, Prior Provincial and President of the Chapter, and Rev. Fr. Harold C. Langahin, OSA, Chairman of the Commission on Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation.er.